The invention relates to a support jack, in particular, for supporting semitrailers, said support jack comprising a vertically telescopically displaceable supporting device having an outer sleeve and an inner sleeve, a spindle and a spindle nut, which interacts with the spindle and is fixed to the inner sleeve. The invention also relates to a method of assembling such a support jack.
Such a support jack has been described by way of example in EP 1 104 369 B1. The spindle nut is directly inserted into the inner sleeve at the upper end of the inner sleeve and fixed in the latter. The support collar of the spindle nut rests on the front surface of the inner sleeve and is detachably connected thereto. The support collar of the spindle nut is adapted to suit the inner dimensions of the outer sleeve so that the spindle nut abuts against the inner side of the outer sleeve and is thus prevented from rotating.
Embossing or pinning are processes known from the prior art for fixing the spindle nut to the inner sleeve. However, the inner sleeve also had to be replaced whenever it was necessary to replace the spindle nut.
US 2003/0089898 A1 describes a support jack, the inner sleeve of which is non-detachably connected to a spindle nut locator. This spindle nut locator is fitted on the inner sleeve and non-detachably connected to the inner sleeve by means of bent tabs. The spindle nut locator has an insertion slot, into which the spindle nut can be inserted laterally. By providing the spindle nut and the insertion slot with mutually adapted designs, the spindle nut is prevented from rotating in the spindle nut locator and moving axially in the longitudinal direction of the support jack. One of the disadvantages of this support jack is that its assembly is expensive since it requires an additional component, namely, the spindle nut locator.
It is the object of the invention to create a support jack, which can be assembled easily and which enables a replacement of the spindle nut. It is also an object of the invention to specify a suitable method of assembling such a support jack.